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Community Corner

Coyote Encounters.....Keep your pets safe

I have personally seen the Coyotes on many occasions, and can certify that they live at the Pasadena CC in the heavily wooded area along hole #18,  near the fresh water creek, behind an empty lot and along the driving range.  The habitat is very dense, partially fenced on the perimeter and it is excellent for them to thrive undisturbed.   The CC has several fresh water lakes with a large bird population, and a winding fresh water creek that they follow as a path to transit the area and into neighborhoods undetected.  When it rains heavily, they leave their den due to flooding and can be seen on the golf course along the tree lines.   They can be very playful and fun to watch, but keep your distance.  It is evident they have mange and are full of fleas and ticks.   
I first encountered them  last year when I noticed two adult Coyote's with a den of 6-8 pups walking on the golf course at dusk.   Earlier that day I had heard them howling when the fire trucks went by on Gulfport Blvd, and that is how I learned where they were living - I followed the howling to the dense area of trees.  After that I started watching this area for them.   Sure enough, one evening at dusk, they marched out of their den to hunt for food on the golf course, walking in single file following mom and dad's lead.  They were in training.     
A month later I had another encounter with a large adult Coyote on the course, and he stood about 30 feet from me for several minutes. He frisked his tail a few times and looked at me so I calmly talked to him to see if I could get close enough for a photo.  I was not able to get my camera out in time before he hopped away like a deer and disappeared into the heavy brush and into the tree line.   This event was followed by another encounter during a rain storm when I noticed one large adult Coyote hanging around the edge of a flooded fairway where several White Egrets had gathered.  He  was stalking the birds in the rain, but was unsuccessful due to the flood waters.  He was very bold, and this was mid afternoon when the course was closed.  I again approached the Coyote and he kept his distance, walking away from me with his head hung low and looking back in my direction. 
My last encounter, this past December, took place in my fenced in back yard at 1:00 am (in Gulfport at 17th Ave South). It was foggy and drizzling out that night, and my hunting dog "Kona", a female Visla hound dog, woke me up going crazy, ringing her bell at the back door, demanding to go outside.  She's famous for her 3 am pottie breaks so I thought nothing of it.   When I opened the back porch door she let out a bark and leaped off the porch at full speed.  I figured we had a opossum out back, which she chases for her own personal recreation sometimes.  But this time something was different.  She stopped dead in her tracks about 50 feet out the back door, her hair on her back was standing straight up, and she put her nose in the air to hone in on the scent of another animal.   It was evident that she couldn't figure out what it was. She stood frozen in her tracks growling into the darkness. She was terrified. I immediately yelled at her to come back into the house, and she enthusiastically obeyed my command and stood between my legs looking out into the back yard.   I reached for my high powered spotlight and shined it on the back of the property by the shed and to my surprise there was a very large Coyote staring back at me.  This thing was big. Maybe the size of a medium German Shepherd.   It had the look of a Werewolf with glowing eyes and it had patches of fur missing from it's hind quarters and a large bushy tail. 
I hurried in to get my shotgun, in a bit of a panic.  I reached into my closet and found my 12 gauge shot gun, I cocked a shell into the magazine and bolted out my back door and jumped  in my SUV and drove to the back of the property with the bright lights on, windshield wipers going back and forth, dripping wet from the rain and wearing only my boxers and flip flops.  When I reached the back of my lot, the Coyote leaped over my 6' fence and was gone.  I had rock salt rounds in the gun, not deadly bullets.  I would have peppered the Coyote if I had the chance. 
I think they smell our garbage and our BBQ grills.  My grill was full of grease from a big cook out the previous day, and that was the attraction.. Even I could smell it in the dense fog air when I got back to the porch.  Since then I keep my grill covered and empty the grease tray and my shot gun is more accessible.   This thing would have killed Kona if they would have tangled. 
I would expect that the pups I saw at the CC are grown now and have populated the area around Gulfport,creating their own dens, and that new dens of pups are probably here now.     The CC management staff in the Pro Shop have known about the Coyote population for some time, and they contacted Florida fish and wildlife, but were told nothing could be done. .  It will require a private company to trap and release the Coyotes in the wild to resolve the problem.   Evidently, there are no documented cases of Coyotes attacking humans, so they are not considered a threat. 
This is becoming a very big problem for pet owners in Gulfport.  We see so many lost dog and cat signs in Gulfport and I am sure many of these lost pets have fallen victim to the Coyote's.  They are very fast and will snatch a pet on the run and take off with it at the blink of an eye.  Much like a fox in a hen house.  My advice to pet owners is keep them on a leash and supervise them when outside at night. Particularly if you live near the golf course.  This is their hunting ground.  

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